The case for access

The Judicial Conference of the United States spells out alternatives for

regulating access to legal records, both at court-houses and online. For

example, the alternatives for civil case files are:

* Assume all filed, unsealed documents should be available in both venues.

* Define classes of documents that should be included in a "public

file," with others sealed off from both venues.

* Establish levels of access to certain electronic case file information.

* Amend existing rules to accommodate privacy and security concerns.